Nvidia shares slide as board reportedly prepares to remove Jensen Huang

The trouble started with a name: Alice Huang, a former executive at Megaspeed, whom US intelligence officials believe China's Ministry of State Security recruited to spy on Nvidia. Jensen Huang had close personal ties to her. On November 8, 2026, he acknowledged in a memo to employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife.

Nvidia's board then opened an independent investigation led by former acting US Attorney Joon Kim. Its core question is whether Huang was a target of foreign intelligence. Nvidia has said it found no evidence that national security or corporate secrets were compromised.

The Megaspeed connection is what turns a personal matter into a corporate one. Megaspeed purchased billions of dollars in Nvidia chips between March and November 2023.

Second report triggers market reaction

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Huang is also said to have had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, a vice president at Nvidia who reported to him. The Wall Street Journal's report on the board's plans followed almost immediately.

Investors reacted strongly to the reports, with shares sliding roughly 8% after the closing bell. The episode has contributed to an estimated loss of about $600 billion in Nvidia's market value over the course of the week.

Legal pressure is building as well. A proposed shareholder class-action lawsuit claims Nvidia's disclosures around these incidents have been inadequate.

National security implications

Nvidia is not an ordinary tech company in the eyes of US policymakers. Its chips sit at the center of US export controls, which aim to limit China's access to advanced computing.

The board's investigation is meant to answer whether that access was ever exploited. Nvidia's position so far is that nothing sensitive was compromised.

Leadership uncertainty ahead

The immediate risk is uncertainty over leadership. If the board does move to remove Huang, Nvidia would face a succession at a critical moment for its AI business. If it does not, the company still has an open investigation, a proposed class action, and allegations that may keep surfacing.

Governance is the other pressure point. The class-action claim about inadequate disclosure suggests some shareholders believe they learned too much, too late, from the newspapers rather than from the company.

For now, the key items to track are straightforward. Watch for an official board decision on Huang's role, findings from the investigation led by Joon Kim, and any developments in the proposed shareholder lawsuit.